Love's Brew
by Koharu Veddette
Summary: Scarlett is a seventh year who enjoys nothing more than showing her prowess in Transfiguration and Potions, but sometimes she needs a bit more incentive to do well with her work. Has Snape found a way to make Scarlett do exponentially better in his class than ever before or will this encounter just lead them to heartbreak?
1. Chapter 1

On an average day in the NEWT level of History of Magic there would be a large series of students studying away for whatever it was that they had planned for once they graduated from Hogwarts, but in the regular level of History of Magic the students didn't care nearly as much. Many of them would have even dropped the class if their paths

didn't need to have further History education. One of these such students was Scarlett Montgomery, a Ravenclaw girl who could have transfigured everything in the classroom into something else if asked, but found anything having to do with History incredibly boring and often didn't pay attention to what the professor had to say.

Often enough, you could find her in the back of the class practicing wand movements with her quill or reading her potions book, but today was different. Today, Scarlett seemed to have a far away look to her face as she stared at her potions book. Within her mind, she wasn't even registering that she was staring off into space. Scarlett was mentally preparing herself for her next class, a double NEWT Potions with the one and only Professor Severus Snape. He had let slip to her at the end of their last class that they were to be making Amortentia to pair with the counter potion they had made in that class. Amortentia was a curious potion to Scarlett since it was the closest to creating love in those who drank it, but still didn't create actual love. Another effect that she was curious about was the fact that it smelled differently to each person based on who it was they they loved.

A small blush creeped on her face at the very idea of revealing who she thought she loved if she was called on to describe the scent of the potion, especially since the person her heart was set on was in the class.

Scarlett was shaken from her fretful thoughts when those around her began to move about, signalling the end of class for her. She threw her things quickly into her bag before rushing out of the room to head down to the dungeons. As she neared the room that housed her favorite class, a smell of various ingredients, both fresh and preserved, mixed with the ashes from all of the fires that were set in the stone rooms over the years came to her.

"You're late, Montgomery," Severus Snape's cool, smooth voice came from behind her as she entered the classroom. She looked around to see that she was the last one in the classroom, causing her to turn to see Snape slowly close the heavy door behind her. The door slammed closed even with how slow it had been moving, causing Scarlett to jump and close her eyes. She felt a moment later Snape sweep passed her with his robes billowing behind him and leaving her with the scent of sweat and pumpkin.

"Let's get started," Snape said softly to the class as Scarlett scurried to where her cauldron was already set up. "You will find the ingredients you need in the cupboards and the instructions on page 594."

There was a flurry of motion as everyone set to work getting the things they needed set up. Scarlett herself chose to wait for the others to be done with the pantry and looked at the instructions instead.

"Professor?" Scarlett called after she had read the instructions through. Snape swept over to her at the call for him, being much more willing to come help her int NEWT level than those in lower levels. "The instructions call for a low simmer and then an increase in heat, but wouldn't it be better to do a continuous heat so the ingredients come together more evenly?"

"See what happens when you do," Snape answered simply before he moved on to watch what the others were doing. Though his words seemed to not be of any help, Scarlett knew that he would have guided her away from the idea if it was a bad idea since she made these off inquiries many times before. Scarlett smiled as she set to work on her potion, finding an odd soothing feeling in the warmth of the room and with the only sound being of the mixing of brews or the chopping of ingredients.

"Do we have any volunteers?" Snape asked them as his eyes swept over them, their timer having gone off to let them know that their brewing time was over/ It was with his words that Scarlett's nerves were set on edge since she was worried about if she had done well with her work with the alteration of the instructions.

"I think mine is what you are looking for, Professor," a tall, slender Slytherin volunteered after a moment of silence in the class, giving off an air of confidence as he did so. The whole class seemed to move as one to circle around his cauldron so they could see exactly what Snape was talking about when he began critiquing his work. Snape loomed over the cauldron with a blank expression as the class waited with baited breath for his critiques.

"Bradey, what do you smell?" Snape finally questioned him, looking towards the Slytherin volunteer with a single eyebrow raised. The slender teen leaned over his cauldron to take a whiff of the slender streams of steam rising from the brew.

"Honey and some sort of flowers," he admitted slowly, wondering why the smell he sensed was a big deal. Snape straightened and looked over the class with a cool expression.

"If you had read the description of Amortentia, you would know that it has a different scent from person to person," he told them in a clipped tone before his eyes settled on Bradey. "There is a fine line between confidence and cockiness, Mr. Bradey, and you crossed it. Your potion has a lackluster color, a smell common to all, and fumes that do not curl properly. The best that this potion would be able to do is cause joy, if it did not poison the person who foolishly drank it. For this, you have earned yourself a paper on the importance of properly mincing ingredients that is to be on my desk by dinner tomorrow."

The class seemed to wince as one for Bradey's punishment, all of them having been on the receiving end of Snape's harsh punishments at some point or another, but they all straightened up when Snape turned on all of them with a narrowed gaze.

"Montgomery, show us yours," Snape demanded without a pause, following Scarlett to her cauldron with the rest of the class following after him. Scarlet held her breath as Snape examined her potion with narrowed eyes. She let out a breath when he straightened and seemed to nod. "Your instinct did you well this time around. Ten points to Ravenclaw and see me after class to discuss this method further."

Scarlett nodded shakily, her heart beating wildly as Snape moved on since it was so rare for anyone to receive a compliment from Snape for anything, let alone for not following instructions. Scarlett watched as the others in the class had varying degrees of success, her heart beating rapidly at the compliment she had received.

Her mind was not completely there as she put some of her brew in a vial for Snape to critique and grade further later on.

"Montgomery," Snape called to her as she was mindlessly cleaning up the mess she had made from class around her table. Scarlett looked up to see that the rest of the class had already left for their afternoon classes or breaks. When Snape came towards her desk, Scarlett's heart began to hammer against her chest as a blush crept up on her cheeks. She had come in for lessons and to check on her potions after classes were over many times before, but there had typically been other students around serving detention and whatnot when she had come in. In that moment, she wasn't sure if her heart was going to be able to handle being alone with the professor.

"Tell me," Snape said in a soft tone that Scarlett had to strain to hear over the thumping in her ears from her heart beating so hard. Snape looked deep into her eyes and seemed to be reading her very soul as they stood by her cauldron. "What is it that you smell from your potion?"

"I-I-" Scarlett stammered as she stared into his dark eyes that seemed to suck her into them like they were black holes before she managed to blink and look away from him, losing a bit of the strange connection that had been between them while they stared into each other's eyes. She refused to look at him once again as she took a whiff of her Amortentia, actually trying to pay attention to how it smelled now that she was being asked. She frowned as she looked up at him to give her response. "I don't smell anything."

"That's impossible," Snape murmured as he leaned over the cauldron to smell it for himself. It took a moment before Snape's eyes grew wide and he whirled on Scarlett with a look like he had never seen her before.

"Are you absolutely sure you can't smell anything?" he asked her as his eyes narrowed slightly like he didn't believe her. Scarlett hesitated slightly before she decided to try smelling the potion once more. She blinked when it finally registered what it was that she was smelling from the potion, her blush increasing to cover a good portion of her face as she realized that this potion only confirmed who she thought her heart was set on.

"Nothing, Professor," Scarlet murmured, looking away from him and tried hard to hide her face so he could not see the blush set on her cheeks. Snape did not seem to be fooled by her avoiding him and reached for her chin to pull her face up to him. Scarlett overcompensated for him pulling on her chin and ended up practically nose to nose with Snape with his dark onyx eyes staring deep into her own.

"Are you sure about that, Scarlett?" Snape seemed to only breathe out, his warm breath heating Scarlett's already flushed cheeks. Scarlett's breath caught in her throat at the fact that he used her name in such a way.

"Potions," Scarlett murmured softly, her voice weightless from how shallow her breathing was. She felt almost compelled to answer as she stared into his eyes. It was almost like she couldn't control herself anymore as she stepped closer to Snape, her body pressing lightly against his on its own accord. "I smell you."

There seemed to be a moment pause before Snape's lips came crashing down onto her's. A part of Scarlett's brain screamed out that this was wrong. He was a teacher and she was only seventeen for Merlin's sake! But the rest of her brain and her body took over her rational thought very quickly, leading her to deepening the kiss as the overwhelming scent of pumpkin and potions filled her senses.

Scarlett gasped into the kiss as Snape's hand grasped at her brunette locks, pulling them loose from the ponytail she had them up in for class. She allowed for the kiss to deepen further, his tongue sliding into her mouth to explore as her hands trailed up to his neck before tangling into his hair, which was not as oily as it looked. Scarlett could feel her body begin to heat up as she seemed to drown in the scent coming from him and all of the potions around them along with the taste of the kiss and the feel of his hands on her.

"Scarlett," he murmured into her lips, the sound overloading her senses and creating a feel of pure joy deep inside Scarlett at the way he said her name.

When Snape finally pulled away from Scarlett, she was left in a daze as a gentle tingle moved from her lips to the rest of her body, giving her chills as it went.

"Y-Your potion is very potent, Montgomery," Snape murmured before he cleared his throat, taking a step away from her as he did so. Scarlett opened her eyes at his words and her heart sank into her stomach at the sight of him avoiding her gaze. She could feel tears begin to prick at her eyes but fought to keep them back so he wouldn't see just how hurt she was by his rejection. "I will give you full marks for today's lesson and will take note of your success in your records."

"Thank you, Professor," Scarlett said at only a mutter, her eyes shifting to the ground as her fists clenched at her robes in anger and humiliation. She couldn't believe that he was acting like they hadn't just shared an amazing kiss, but, then, he might not feel that the kiss was as amazing as she did. She picked up her bag a little rougher than she meant for, nearly knocking over her potion in the process. She cursed under her breath as she straightened her cauldron once more, the tears pricking at her eyes once more in all of the emotions that were rushing through her in that moment.

"Montgomery," Snape called to her as she moved to finally leave the classroom after all that had happened. Scarlett paused to compose herself before she turned around to face her teacher once more. He seemed to be watching her closely as he stood at the front of the classroom, looking very much like a large raven looming over his prey.

"Yes, Professor?" she asked in a tight voice when he did not continue to speak.

"Keep up the good work," he told her in a cool tone, a small smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. Scarlett was confused for a moment, but chose to nod that she understood what he said as she turned to leave once more. "You may just get another reward if you do this well again."

Scarlett could only gape at his words, her mind going blank as it fought to process what it was he just said and all it was that those words implied. Her heart began to hammer as a blush began to coat her face yet again, a smile coming along with it this time.

"We will be working on Wolfsbane next and I expect you will do well with that potion if you are to get full marks like this again," Snape told her quietly, almost expectantly, as if he was waiting for her reaction. Scarlett's grin grew even larger now that he seemed to be handing her the opportunity to do well.

"I won't let you down, Professor!" she nearly squeaked in her excitement. She was ready to go check out all of the books she could about Wolfsbane potions and the ingredients that go into it so she could come up with some way to earn this reward once more. Without another word to her absolute favorite professor, Scarlett rushed from the room to get started.

 **A commission I did for someone on my dA account. I do not own anything.**


	2. Chapter 2

The lake on the campus of Hogwarts had always been the focus of students during times of good weather no matter the season. During late winter, many of the students had already had their fill of the ice and snow and spent their time waiting for spring to come and the promise of sunshine. Scarlett, while she did like the sunshine and warmth of spring and summer, found the dead of winter quite beautiful in its own right and often went out when she had time to take pictures on her polaroid she had received from her father for her seventeenth birthday months ago. She loved taking these pictures and enjoyed showing her friends who hadn't really experienced the Muggle world the picture that automatically printed from her camera and froze scenes in time.

She was out on a particularly cold day in early February, taking pictures of various scenes of the grounds and the few students out on this snowy day, trying to find the perfect scene to send home in her next letter.

"Scarlett!" someone called out to her, causing her to lower her camera and miss a beautiful shot of an owl swooping down to meet its owner. She gave a huff of a sigh as she turned towards the person who had called out to her only to see a boy that she recognized as a Ravenclaw from a year below her running up to her with a broad grin on his flushed face.

"Hey Artemis," Scarlett called to him in slight irritation since he had ruined her great shot. "What's up?"

"Did you hear they're letting us go to Hogsmeade on Valentine's Day?" Artemis asked her with a flip of his bright blonde hair.

"No, I hadn't," Scarlett answered slowly, her eyes narrowing slightly from her suspicion towards why he was asking her when they must've just announced the sudden trip. Plus the fact that he was asking her about Valentine's Day was strange since the two barely even knew each other outside of Ravenclaw events.

"Then I guess you don't have plans to go with anyone yet," Artemis concluded as his grin widened, flipping his long bans once again and missing Scarlett's eye roll. "How about you come with me for a bit? We could grab a bite or something?"

"I'd rather not," Scarlett told him flat out, knowing well by now that guys did not listen to roundabout nos like she used to give. There was a problem with having such a small class of students when it came to the dating scene and that was a lack of options, so she had received plenty of invites to Hogsmeade over the last few years from boys, and the occasional girl, thinking of her as their best option. She was still quite proud of being one of only a handful of girls that have turned down the infamous Weasley brothers when approached by the superstar Gryffindors. Having Bill a year ahead of her and Charlie just a year behind had led Scarlett to see plenty of broken hearts from the charming duo.

"Oh, come on, you haven't gone out with anyone all year," Artemis chuckled, holding out his hand to her. "Surely you want to go again."

"Montgomery!" a sharp, but cool call interrupted Scarlett as her temper began to boil, causing her and Artemis to jump and turn almost as one to see Professor Snape marching towards them with his black robes billowing around him in stark contrast against the ice and snow.

"Y-Yes Professor?" Scarlett responded in a nervous tone that anyone would assume came from the harsh tone Snape had used with her, but in fact came from the sudden appearance of the man she had been developing deep feelings for ever since they made an interesting deal at the beginning of the school year.

"You left your work station a mess after your extra lesson this morning. I expect you will come in tomorrow for detention to clean the entire room after this lack thought," Snape told her snidely before his eyes shifted to Artemis. "Ah, I hope you were not trying to make plans with her to go on the Hogsmeade trip."

"N-Not at all Professor," Artemis stuttered, taking a step back from the imposing man. He glanced towards Scarlett with a small nod before he scurried away from the two.

"I didn't interrupt anything I assume," Snape asked her slowly as he turned to look at Scarlett with an amused expression. At the sight of his expression, Scarlett began to smile ever so slightly.

"Not at all," she promised him before she gave her own small laugh. One of Snape's eyebrows rose in question at her laugh, receiving a mock glare in return. "I never forget to clean my station so why do I have detention?"

"You seemed to need help getting out of that date," Snape explained slowly, watching her reaction carefully. "And now you have a reason to say no to anyone else who may ask you on a last minute date for this ridiculous holiday."

"So I really have detention?" Scarlett clarified, looking more excited than she should have for receiving a punishment., Snape rolled his eyes very slightly before he left her side so she could continue her day with the expectation of having to report to the dungeon the next morning. Scarlett would have been lying to herself if she did not admit that she was actually very excited for the detention assignment.

The next morning came early for Scarlett as she and her friends attended breakfast like they always did. Many of them promised to bring back gifts from various shops when they said goodbye to one another so they could go have fun while she headed towards detention in the dungeons. While they were all pitying her, Scarlett felt like she could have skipped the entire way to the room, but froze in the doorway when she found that she was not the only student that had been assigned detention. Twin redheads were up to their necks in dirty cauldrons and were laughing away as they whispered to one another while they were cleaning.

"There you are Montgomery," Snape called as he swept through the room like the boys were insignificant and practically nonexistent. Scarlett could hardly look at him when she was addressed, the feelings of disappointment filling her so much that she was worried he could see it in her eyes. She didn't want to admit it, but she had been hoping he was planning on surprising her with something since it was Valentine's Day. They had never made anything official and definitely not public, but the two had shared several moments since the incident with the love potion, so Scarlett had assumed that there was something more between them.

"You will be working on preserving ingredients for the pantry," Snape instructed her as he guided her towards a table near the front of the classroom with several strange ingredients and empty jars piled onto it. Scarlett nodded as she put down her things and set to work, trying hard to keep the look of disappointment off of her face.

Time seemed to tick by slower than ever to Scarlett and was only punctuated by the sound of her knife slicing through the ingredients before her and the twins' laughter.

Eventually there was a knock on the door before Charlie Weasley stepped through with a solemn grin.

"Good afternoon Professor," he called to Snape to gain his attention when the man did not look up at his entrance. "I am here to pick up my brothers like you asked."

"I am aware of why you are here, Mr. Weasley," Snape told him still without looking up. He shifted the papers he was grading away from him before looking at Charlie with a slight sneer as Scarlett paused to look at their interactions. She had always heard that Snape was harder on the Gryffindors, but had never gotten to see if that was true since she had always had potions with Hufflepuffs and there weren't any in the NEWT level at this point. "I trust you will keep them out of trouble if I let them go with you?"

"I will do my best, sir," Charlie responded formally, very stiff when addressing the Slytherin Head of House.

"See that you do," Snape murmured before motioning for them to go as he turned back to his grading. The twins scrambled up from their piles of cauldrons and hurried out of the room ahead of their older brother. Charlie paused, catching Scarlett's eye before he nodded to her and headed out the door as well. Scarlett sighed softly as she pulled out her wand to clean up her station, preparing to leave herself so she could go grab a bit of lunch and possibly find her friends in Hogsmeade since nothing was going on here.

"What do you think you are doing?" Snape questioned her when he saw her begin to clean up. He stood up from his desk and swept over to her side so he could grab her wrist, cutting short the cleaning spell that she was using on the mess she had made. Scarlett refused to look up at him since she could already feel herself becoming angry for being tricked and didn't want to snap at him and show that anger. "Who said that you were done?"

"It is time for lunch, Professor, so I would like to get something to eat," Scarlett told him slowly so she could keep her emotions in check while addressing him. "You already allowed the Weasleys to leave, so why can I not leave when i wasn't really in trouble to begin with?"

Snape seemed to pause at her words before he released her wrist so he could go back to his desk with his robes billowing with his harsh stride.

"Leave if that is what you wish," he snapped at her as he sat back down to work on grading more of the papers.

"That is not what I want," Scarlett snapped back at him, her fists clenching tightly at her sides. She and Snape's eyes connected, both of them with eyes blazing with different emotions. While Scarlett's eyes were bright with fury and embarrassment, Snape's eyes were ablaze with indignation and something that Scarlett couldn't describe.

"What do you want then" Snape finally asked her after they stared at each other for a while. Scarlett's fury dissipated slightly at the question, replaced by embarrassment in the fullest extent. She looked away from him as a light blush colored her cheeks.

"Nothing important, sir," she murmured softly, refusing to look towards him again. "If I'm done with detention, I'll just go."

"You are not done with you detention," Snape told her sharply as he stood once more. He took a moment to collect himself before he drew his wand and summoned a tray from the pantry. "I had planned to give you something more, but those twins ruined the preparations I had been working on."

The tray had a simple copper pot on it that was covered with a ld and had long rods lining it. Scarlett looked at Snape in confusion until the lid was removed and the contents were revealed. Smooth chocolate was bubbling away in the pot and Scarlett could now see that the rods were actually long forks.

"Fondue?" Scarlett questioned in amusement, her eyebrow raised slightly as she looked at him again.

"I overheard that this is a common meal for couples on Valentine's Day," Snape informed her slowly, avoiding eye contact as he settled the pot down on a desk near them.

"I thought that you didn't like this holiday?" Scarlett said in a teasing tone before she began to blush slightly as his words clicked.

"I do not, but you are young and seem to enjoy these such holidays," Snape said with a small frown as he pulled one of the forks out of the pot, revealing the fruit he had skewered on it that was now coated in chocolate. He held out the fruit for her to eat off the fork, causing her to blush even deeper at him feeding her. She opened her mouth very slowly, avoiding eye contact with him as she ate the dessert at the end of the fork. Snape grinned slyly at her, shifting the fork ever so slightly to smudge some of the chocolate onto her lips, causing her to jump slightly.

"messy child," he chuckled as he cupped her chin to adjust her face to look to the side, leaning down to slowly lick the chocolate off of her cheek. As Scarlett's face turned even deeper red,, he chuckled again and turned to put the fork away before he froze, feeling her arms circle around his chest and her face bury into his back. "Scarlett?"

"You think of us as a couple" Scarlett murmured into his back, incredibly muffled so he could barely understand her.

"Do you not?" he replied with a short chuckle. Without any warning, he broke free from her grasp and turned to pull her into a hug of his own. "After how often I've made you have private lessons, you still do not believe that I have feelings for you?"

"Kissing doesn't mean we are a couple," Scarlett muttered into his chest with a small pout as her long feelings of frustration at where their relationship was even going began to come up for the first time around him. She normally tried to keep things at bay around him so she didn't ruin what relationship they did have, but she was tired of it now and wanted a straight answer from him.

"Kissing is not all that we do," Snape commented slowly, his eyes narrowing as he looked down at her closely.

"But we don't do anything that a normal couple does!" Scarlett snapped at him loudly, tears springing to her eyes as her fury bubbled over and let itself loose on Snape. "We only kiss and flirt and talk about potions! I want to do more than that with you! I want to go out! I want to know about you! I want to talk to you, really talk to you! Is that so wrong!?"

"That is not wrong at all," Snape murmured soothingly as he pulled her to him and kissed the top of her head. "I want that with you too and we will have that, but you must focus on your studies for now. We will talk more from now on and I promise I will tell you about my past but only once you graduate. Will that work for you?"

"Yes," she seemed to squeak into his chest. Scarlett gave a small sniffle as she hugged him tightly, her heart hammering with all of the emotion she was feeling at his words. Snape pulled away from her ever so slightly and nudged her chin so she would look up at him, a small smile playing at his lips.

"I love you, Scarlett Montgomery," he murmured softly before he leaned down to gently kiss her lips.


End file.
